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Collection Number:
40001Collection Title: Board of Trustees of the University of North Carolina Records, 1789-1932

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival
material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are
physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available
through the World Wide Web. See the
Duplication Policy section for more information.

The Board of Trustees, elected by the North Carolina General Assembly, was the governing
body of the University of North Carolina from its chartering in 1789 until 1932, when
the Consolidated University of North Carolina system was created. Records include minutes of the Board of Trustees, 1789-1932, and of its Executive
Committee, 1835-1932, on five reels of microfilm; files of the Secretary of the Board,
1922-1932; and files of the Building Committee, 1921-1929. Topics of particular importance
in the minutes of the Board of Trustees and its Executive Committee include siting
of the University and acquisition of land, construction of buildings (including funding),
curriculum planning, and student discipline. The Secretary's files on the committees
of the Board of Trustees contain only background materials for reports made by the
committees to the full Board or its Executive Committee. Building Committee materials
include correspondence, minutes, reports, and other materials.

[Identification of item], in the Board of Trustees of the University of North Carolina
Records #40001, University Archives, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill.

Alternate Form of Material

Board of Trustees minutes, 1789-1799, are reproduced in R.D.W. Connor's
Documentary History of the University of North Carolina, 1776-1799. Minutes, 1789-1840, are in the Library of Congress
Microfilm Collection of Early State Records. In addition, all 16 volumes of minutes have been microfilmed and are available on
5 reels in the University Archives.

Typed copies of Board minutes, 1800-1840, and of Executive Committee minutes, 1835-1873,
are also available in the University Archives.

Provenance

Periodic transfer from the offices that create these records.

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or
confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy
laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. §
132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of
State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.).
Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to
identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent
of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under
common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's
private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable
person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no
responsibility.

The following terms from
Library of Congress Subject
Headings
suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the
entire collection; the terms do
not usually represent
discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or
items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's
online catalog.

The charter of the University of North Carolina, ratified by the state's General Assembly
in 1789, named forty men to serve as Trustees of the new institution. The primary
responsibility of the Trustees, according to the charter, was to handle "all monies, goods, and chattels. . . and Land, Rents, and Hereditaments for the Use
and Purposes of establishing and endowing the University." The duties and structure of this Board of Trustees remained essentially the same
until 1932, although the method of selection varied somewhat and the membership increased
as the state and University grew. Until 1868 appointments to the Board were for life.
The state Constitution of that year set terms at eight years and established the practice
of selecting one Trustee from each county plus certain ex officio members. From 1868
to 1873, the State Board of Education selected the Trustees; thereafter, they were
selected by joint ballot of the General Assembly.

On March 27, 1931, the General Assembly passed the Act of Consolidation, creating
the Consolidated University of North Carolina, a system comprised of three previously
separate institutions--the University of North Carolina, North Carolina State College
of Agriculture and Engineering, and the North Carolina College for Women. It also
appointed a new Board of Trustees of one-hundred members (at least ten of whom were
to be women) to serve as the governing body of the new system beginning July 1, 1932.
The pre-Consolidation Boards of Trustees of the individual institutions were discontinued.
Though many of the members of the Consolidated Board had previously been Trustees
of one of the constituent schools, their purpose was now to promote the interests
of the University system.

Records include minutes of the Board of Trustees, 1789-1932, and of its Executive
Committee, 1835-1932, on five reels of microfilm; files of the Secretary of the Board,
1922-1932; and files of the Building Committee, 1921-1929. Topics of particular importance
in the minutes of the Board of Trustees and its Executive Committee include siting
of the University and acquisition of land, construction of buildings (including funding),
curriculum planning, and student discipline. The Secretary's files on the committees
of the Board of Trustees contain only background materials for reports made by the
committees to the full Board or its Executive Committee. Building Committee materials
include correspondence, minutes, reports, and other materials.

The first fourteen volumes of this subgroup contain the minutes of all meetings of
the Board of Trustees from the establishment of the University in 1789 through the
first meeting of the new Board of Trustees of the Consolidated University in 1932.
All of the volumes are available on microfilm. The reel on which each is found is
indicated on the contents list below.

The Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees was formed in January 1835. It consisted
of seven members and combined the functions and the powers of the previous Land Committee,
Building Committee, and Committee on Appointments. The minutes of its meetings were
bound separately through 1881 and make up the last two volumes of the subgroup. From
1882 on, the Executive Committee minutes are included in the volumes of the minutes
of the full Board meetings.

A partial index of names and subject terms from the minutes is available.

Expand/collapse Series 2. Secretary of the Board of Trustees Records, 1922-1932.

One of the first actions taken by the University of North Carolina Board of Trustees
was the appointment of a Secretary. On November 24, 1790, James Taylor was chosen
by his fellow Trustees to hold this position. The Secretary's responsibilities included
keeping minutes of meetings, handling correspondence, compiling agendas, and mailing
notices of the meetings to Board members. The Secretary performed these duties for
both the full Board and the Executive Committee.

The records in this subgroup consist of the Secretary's files on the various committees
of the Board of Trustee. Since these are not the files of the committees themselves,
they generally contain only background material supporting committee reports, etc.
to the Executive Committee or full Board. Thus, the researcher is advised to consult
the minutes of the Board and available Trustee committee records in conjunction with
these records.

Following is a list of individuals who have served as Secretary of the Board of the
Board of Trustees and their tenures.

There was little formal committee structure to the Board of Trustees prior to Consolidation.
Consequently, much of what would later be the business of committees was carried on
in the general meetings of the Board. Further information on committee activity can
be found in both Subgroup 1 and Subgroup 2, above.

The only committee records of the Board of Trustees in this subgroup are those of
the Building Committee, which was formed from the Committee on the Development of
University Property in 1921. The Building Committee studied and made recommendations
on construction and property use at the University.

Additional material on the Building Committee will also be found in the University
Papers (#40005), a separate records group in the University Archives.